Oh My Darling, Clementine
by LileyKigoSpashleyRizzslesLover
Summary: Even with Patty Doyle's confession, Maura is still mad at Jane. Will a very different confession from Jane change this? Continuation of S3E1. Jane/Maura. Oneshot.


A/N: Hello all you Rizzles lovers! I'm back! Expect a lot more stories coming your way from me as I am finally done with college! … until grad school. But that's in a year or so! Also, I had a difficult time with this story, probably because I was on hiatus for so long that I was out of practice. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

XXXXX

Maura kneeled in front of her own grave stone and was unable to stop the tears from cascading down her face. She had just learned that her father would have shot Jane, given the chance, and now she was seeing _this_. It felt like everything she thought she knew about him was a lie. Her mind drifted to her birth mother and she voiced her thoughts aloud. "I always wondered why she never looked for me."

Jane looked down at her sadly. She knew this was a tough time for her best friend, though that term was still in question, and she yearned to stop her hurting. "Is there anything I can do?"

There was a short pause before she spoke. "Please go." Maura wiped a few tears away from her eyes. She wanted to say it in a way that didn't sound harsh but was unable to. She just wanted to be alone right now. That's what she has always been used to and, so, she felt a little bare crying in front of someone right now. Even if that someone was Jane, a person whom she had cried in front of before.

The detective did as she was told and started walking away.

"Wait."

Jane stopped and turned around.

"There is one thing." She paused, as if she wasn't quite sure what she was going to say. "Tell Pike I want my chair back."

She moved forward again. A slow smile began to spread on her face as she thought of the implications of that. Things were finally starting to get back to normal. _And _she got to tell Dr. Jerk-Face the good news.

The first thing she did when she entered the BPD was head straight down to Maura's office. There, she found Dr. Pike. Sitting in Maura's chair.

"Detective, it's nice to see you." He smiled up at her and stood. This case had definitely created a new development in his life, and not just the new job he seemed to have gained by Dr. Isles' departure. No, he couldn't stop thinking about the woman that stood before him now. All that flirting she did with him made him realize he had neglected that part of his life for too long and she was perfect.

"Yeah, yeah… I got some news for you."

"Are you back on homicide? Because, to be honest, you're the only detective I like working with."

Jane curled her lips up at that remark in a fake smile. "Thanks and, yeah, I am back in homicide. But that's not what I came here to tell you."

"Oh, really? Then what is it?" He asked, hopeful.

"You're fired." She said bluntly.

"What?" He yelled. "You can't fire me! You're just a detective!" His opinion of her made a one-eighty as he spat out her job title in disgust.

"You're right, I can't. But the Boston Chief Medical Examiner can if she wants her job back."

He laughed. "Well judging from the way she was yelling at you earlier I don't think she'll want her job back. And, frankly, I think that's best for everyone."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't kid yourself, you know exactly what that means! She's no good at her job. Maybe the clowns that decided that _she _should be the Chief Medical Examiner will realize their mistake and revoke that title from her."

Jane's eye twitched. She was so close to another internal affairs case on her. And this time she would gladly confess. "Stop. Just stop. Maura Isles is the best damn M.E. Boston's ever had!"

He laughed haughtily. "That's doubtful. I mean, her father is a mob boss. She's probably just working for him."

The dark haired woman didn't even have time to think about what she was doing; her hand just balled up and punched him square in the jaw, causing him to fall to the ground. "Ugh…" She knew she was in some deep trouble but she figured she could spare some time if she let him sleep for awhile. She drug his body into the morgue and let him lay in a spot where traffic to the forensics lab wouldn't see him through the window.

She went back into the office and collapsed in a heap in the white chair behind the desk. She sighed deeply before perking up, thinking of something. She knew that Maura was still mad at her and that she needed to do something to change that. She hoped, but was somewhat doubtful, that there would be a clue somewhere in this office that might help her with that.

Quite a while passed and all she found were books, scientific journals, and fashion magazines. If she wasn't almost certain that Maura was already home she would have tried there. No doubt she would have had more luck.

She paused when she came across a picture of the two of them. Smiling at the memories behind the frame, she sat down. These past few days have been the hardest ones she's ever had – even including any past events with Hoyt. She couldn't stand having her best friend hate her. Especially since…

She ceased her thoughts and frowned inwardly at herself. She knew where her line of thinking was going but wasn't happy about it. Before she could contemplate any further, she heard footsteps approaching.

"What are you doing?" The M.E. asked.

Jane put the picture down and smiled sadly at the other woman. "Just looking at past happiness."

The ache in her voice tugged at Maura's heart strings hard enough to pull her closer. "Jane… I – I don't know if we can get back to how we were but – I do miss you."

Jane looked up and wore a real smile this time. "Really?"

"Yes, really. You were my best – uh, I mean, I'd like to be best friends again."

"Me too."

Maura smiled. "But until we get back to that point – out of my chair."

The taller woman laughed and stood up. "You never let me sit in your chair before!"

She sat and paused as she heard those words. "Hmm… you're right. Scratch that last comment."

Jane shook her head. "What are you doing here, Maura?"

"This _is _my morgue. Why are you here?"

"I fired Pike like you asked me to."

"Oh. Well, thank you." Her brows furrowed as she thought of something. "But… you left the cemetery hours ago."

"Well, I've been sittin' here for a while."

"And you've been looking at that the whole time?" She asked, picking up the picture of the two of them that was face down on the desk.

Jane shrugged. "Not the whole time. I've also been thinking about what to do with him." She looked through the doorway between Maura's office and the morgue where Dr. Pike was clearly passed out on the floor.

"Jane!" The M.E. admonished. "What did you do?"

"Hey, he's lucky that's all that happened to him."

"I know he's not the easiest man to work with but – "

"That's not why I decked him."

"Then why?"

The detective stopped for a moment, contemplating whether she should say it or not. "He, uh… he said some not-so-nice things about you."

Maura narrowed her eyes and looked over at the unconscious man, giving him a dirty look. "Like what?"

"Nothing." She waved it off.

"Jane…" The dirty look was now aimed full force at woman in front of her, who looked away.

"He was saying that you weren't very good at your job. He's just sexist. You're great at what you do, which was what I _tried _to tell him."

"And that's all he said?"

Jane paused before speaking again. "Yes."

She narrowed her eyes again but let it go. "Fine… But I'm not helping you get out of trouble with Cavanaugh on this one." She looked back to the picture that was still in her hand and frowned as something came to her. "Were you going through my stuff?"

"I – what? N-no!"

"Don't lie to me. I know when you're lying."

"I'm not lying!" She said unconvincingly.

"Really? Because I distinctly remember putting this in a drawer where I wouldn't have to see it."

Jane sighed. "Fine! I was. But I was only looking for a hint at what to do to make you not hate me anymore. And then I came across that. I –" A sound from the adjoining room caused her to stop and look over. "You know what? We should probably get outta here before he gets up." She said, nodding her head toward the groaning man.

"Fine. We'll continue this conversation at your house."

"My house?" She asked, confused. Normally the Maura preferred her own home.

"Your mother decided she had enough of your apartment and moved back in."

"Oh, well then my place it is!" She said, all but sprinting towards the exit.

"Rizzoli!" Shawn Cavanaugh stopped her at the door-frame. "You in a hurry?"

"Uh… no. No reason for me to be, right?" She said with a nervous laugh.

"Good. I think we should talk about what happened these past few days." He turned to look at the M.E. "You too Dr. Isles. Meet me in my office?"

"Yeah, sure, be there in a few." She tried her best to shoo him out but it was of no use.

"Is there something going on in here you don't want me to know about?" Being her boss for so long, he knew this was a pointless question, so he muscled his way in to the protest of the detective.

"Ow."

Cavanaugh looked over. "What the hell, Rizzoli? What did you do him?"

"I may have punched him."

He sighed.

"I – I'm sorry, I had to!"

Shaking his head, he walked over to her. "I should kick you off the force for this." He spoke low so only the three of them could hear. "But I won't cause you're a damn good detective. That and I've been wanting to do that myself for awhile now." He gave them a very rare smile. "Why don't you two go home. Our talk can wait until tomorrow." Before leaving he patted them both on the shoulders.

Jane blinked in confusion. "What just happened?"

"I – I'm not sure."

Deciding to leave that headache she was sure to get trying to decode that interaction behind, she turned to the doctor. "Shall we go to my place, then?"

"Mm-hmm."

After taking the elevator down, they were blocked by a tall figure at their stop.

"Dean? What are you doing here? I thought you went back to Washington."

"My flight's not for a few hours. I wanted to talk to you first."

Maura turned to the taller woman. "I'll meet you there."

As she started to walk away, Jane looked confused and then shouted to stop her. "Wait, Maura, give me a sec. I can drive us."

"It's fine. I have my car. I had a cab bring me to the hospital before coming over here."

"Oh…" She frowned, kind of hoping to have a reason to hurry this conversation up. "Okay, see you there." She turned back to the man. "Yes?"

"Are you gonna be okay? I know things between you and Maura are shaky right now."

"I'm fine. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Her tone stated her irritation clearly.

He frowned. "Why are you getting angry with me?"

"I'm not getting angry with you. I just – I wish you never followed us to the warehouse. Maybe then things would have worked out differently."

"And what? Have Patty Doyle back on the streets?" He asked incredulously.

"Right now I'm willing to accept that trade-off for my best friend back."

He shook his head. "Are you even listening to yourself? If you were even _half _the devoted detective I thought you were, you'd think you were crazy."

She clenched her jaw and tried not to reenact the scene that had happened not too long ago in Maura's office. "He's Maura's father. He's important to her and she's important to me. That's all that matters."

He let out a light laugh. "Wow."

"Wow? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that your priorities are a little screwed up right now, that's all."

"My pri – My priorities are just fine!"

"No they're not! You should have gone after him the second you knew he was in town! That's your job!"

"Some things are more important."

"Dr. Isles? Really? If she's more important to you than keeping a _crime boss _off the streets, then, yes, your priorities are really screwed up." The volume of his voice had increased by now, causing a few bystanders to look over.

"Dea – Gabriel." She touched his arm. "Can we not do this here?"

"Call me Agent Dean." He said coldly. "And I don't think there's much more to say, Detective."

"Fine." She stalked off towards the exit, and her car.

XXXXX

The female duo sat on the couch that was apparently constructed with a piece of plywood and a few sacks of marbles and talked.

"I want to be friends again, Jane, but I'm not going to say I don't have feelings of resentment towards you anymore. I know it's irrational but–"

"It's not irrational. I shot your father." She interrupted. Sure, it hurt and she wished things would have played out differently, but she knew that if he hadn't been shot, she might not be alive right now.

Maura voiced these thoughts. "Yes but he would have killed you. I didn't believe it when you were trying to tell me that but he really would have."

Jane frowned at the shaky tone her best friend's voice held and tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Well it wouldn't have been the first time I survived a gunshot wound." It didn't seem to help. Nor did her failed attempt at slight laughter that followed it.

"Jane… I - I've been thinking about it over and over and _over _again." Maura sniffled as the thought came back. "He would have shot you. Just because you're a cop. And when I think about what might have happened if he _had _shot you I –" She broke down for the umpteenth time in the past few days. "I can't even stand the _thought _of losing you."

"Maura." She spoke softly and reached out an arm but wasn't sure what she should do. "It's fine now, right? I mean, Doyle is getting better and I'm alive."

Maura shook her head. "Just _knowing _that he would kill you…" Her voice wavered as another tear fell from her eye.

The detective was desperate for a way to lighten the mood now. "Remember how we met?"

It worked, as the scene flashed before the M.E.'s eyes and she burst out laughing. "Yes! My god, I remember thinking that you were such a bitch!"

"I guess I was doing a pretty good job undercover, huh?" She said proudly.

The shorter woman just laughed. "I think you wore more make-up that day than you have the entire time in homicide."

"You're probably right there." She laughed but shuddered at the thought of ever having to go back to that.

"And looking back on it now, I can't believe anybody convinced you into wearing those clothes." It was hard enough trying to get her to wear anything that didn't consist of her normal daily wear.

"Oh trust me, _that_ was the conservative style. And _I _can't believe you had to put on gloves to try and give me that five."

Maura shot her a look.

"Okay, you're right, I can believe it."

The two laughed for a moment at the shared memory. Once it died down, Jane shifted to better face the other woman.

"Maura… I- I've been thinking. And this may not be the best time to tell you this but… I really treasure the time we've had together so far and it absolutely _kills _me inside knowing I might have messed that up. I don't know how it happened but there was a shift some time ago when I didn't really care about dating anymore as long as I got to be with you. And, eventually, that grew into something more and I just realized that…" She sighed, a little nervous about what she was going to say. "That I love you. More than I really should. I'm in love with you." Jane saw a look pass across Maura's face. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad. "I'm sorry if that's the wrong thing to say but…"

"No, don't be sorry. I just – It's so hard to hate you when you say that. And… I think I'm in love with you too. I mean, I was fighting these feelings for you before all this stuff happened but now I'm just trying to figure it all out."

Jane nodded. "I understand." She knew it was a long shot but, to be honest, she was surprised it wasn't a complete rejection.

Maura's petite brows furrowed at that reaction. "I'm not saying I don't want to be with you, Jane. I just – " She thought for a moment before continuing. "I'm really conflicted but... I do love you."

A soft smile presented itself on the Italian woman's lips. "And I'm willing to wait however long you need."

Hazel eyes sparkled as their owner interlocked her hands with Jane's. Without a word, Maura leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on the other woman's cheek. "Thank you." She settled against Jane's side and mulled over what was said. After a few moments of peaceful silence, she spoke. "But, instead of waiting can we just go slow?"

Jane beamed and looked down at the woman that had her arm draped around her stomach. "Of course."

In answer to that, the M.E. leaned up and kissed her gently on the lips. "Oh my darling, Clementine." She sing-songed with a smile.

Jane's beaming face faded to a scowl. "Don't you dare call me that again or I swear I'll push you off this couch."

She ignored the lame attempt at a threat. "Speaking of which, we need to get you a new one."

She rolled her eyes. "Did my mother make you say that?"

She laughed slightly as she spoke. "No. Why, did she say the same thing?"

"Kind of… and my brother too."

"Well you know how you a hypothesis becomes scientific theory..."

"No, Maura, I don't. Why don't you enlighten me." Her tone of voice was sarcastic but her eyes gave away the complete adoration she had for the woman in front of her.

"A scientific theory is based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiments. So there's your mother, brother, and now me saying that your couch is…" She paused, thinking of a nice way to word it. "Not quite up to par. I'd say that's evidence enough for you to get a new one."

"As soon as Cavanaugh decides he wants to give me a raise, I'll buy a new one."

"Jane, I'd be more than happy to pitch in on the cost. I mean, if I have to sit on your couch too I might as well be comfortable, especially since we're probably going to be spending more time together from now on."

Though she hated the commentary on her choice of furniture, she conceded. "Fine, tomorrow we'll head down to Target and see what they have." Her smile gave away the fact that she was goading the other woman. All she received was a glare but she saw the wheels turning in her mind and she knew that Maura was already creating a list in her mind that went far beyond couches.


End file.
